Low-cost prosthetic feet for underserved populations: A comparison of gait analysis and mechanical stiffness.

Background: Lower-limb loss is an ongoing cause of disability throughout the world. Despite advancements in prosthetic technologies, there are numerous underserved populations in need of effective low-cost prosthetic foot options.

Objective: To evaluate the biomechanical performance of several low-cost prosthetic feet, using a combination of instrumented gait analysis and mechanical stiffness testing.

Association between sleep quality and physical functioning in adults with Down syndrome: A brief report.

Background: Sleep quality is associated with physical functioning in adults, but this has not been examined in those with Down syndrome (DS). High body mass index (BMI) and accelerated aging, both common in adults with DS, may alter the relationship between sleep quality and physical functioning in this population.

Objective: To examine sleep quality indicators and its association with physical functioning in adults with DS, and whether associations are altered by BMI and age.

Best practices and tools for reporting reproducible fluorescence microscopy methods.

Although fluorescence microscopy is ubiquitous in biomedical research, microscopy methods reporting is inconsistent and perhaps undervalued. We emphasize the importance of appropriate microscopy methods reporting and seek to educate researchers about how microscopy metadata impact data interpretation. We provide comprehensive guidelines and resources to enable accurate reporting for the most common fluorescence light microscopy modalities.

A Fresh Look at the Role of the Coupling of a Discrete State with a Pseudocontinuum State in the Stabilization Method for Characterizing Metastable States.

The stabilization method is widely used to theoretically characterize temporary anions and other systems displaying resonances. In this approach, information about a metastable state is encoded in the interaction of a diabatic discrete state and discretized continuum solutions, the energy of which are varied by scaling the extent of the basis set. In this work, we identify the aspects of the coupling between the discrete state and the discretized continuum states that encode information about the existence of complex stationary points and, hence, complex resonance energies in stabilization graphs.

Past role and future outlook of the Conservation Reserve Program for supporting honey bees in the Great Plains.

Human dependence on insect pollinators continues to grow even as pollinators face global declines. The Northern Great Plains (NGP), a region often referred to as America's last honey bee () refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend analysis and estimated conversion rates of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollments around bee apiaries from 2006 to 2016 and developed models to identify areas of habitat loss.

7,8-benzoflavone binding to human cytochrome P450 3A4 reveals complex fluorescence quenching, suggesting binding at multiple protein sites.

Human cytochrome P450 (P450) 3A4 is involved in the metabolism of one-half of marketed drugs and shows cooperative interactions with some substrates and other ligands. The interaction between P450 3A4 and the known allosteric effector 7,8-benzoflavone (α-naphthoflavone, αNF) was characterized using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding interaction of P450 3A4 and αNF effectively quenched the fluorescence of both the enzyme and ligand.

The Arp2/3 Complex Is Essential for Distinct Stages of Spine Synapse Maturation, Including Synapse Unsilencing.

Unlabelled: Dendritic filopodia are actin-rich structures that are thought to contribute to early spine synapse formation; however, the actin regulatory proteins important for early synaptogenesis are poorly defined. Using organotypic hippocampal slice cultures and primary neuron hippocampal cultures from Arp2/3 conditional knock-out mice, we analyze the roles of the Arp2/3 complex, an actin regulator that creates branched actin networks, and demonstrate it is essential for distinct stages of both structural and functional maturation of excitatory spine synapses. Our data show that initially the Arp2/3 complex inhibits the formation of dendritic filopodia but that later during development, the Arp2/3 complex drives the morphological maturation from filopodia to typical spine morphology.

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains.

Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ∼18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014.

Corrosion protection and improved cytocompatibility of biodegradable polymeric layer-by-layer coatings on AZ31 magnesium alloys.

Composite coatings of electrostatically assembled layer-by-layer anionic and cationic polymers combined with an Mg(OH)2 surface treatment serve to provide a protective coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy substrates. These ceramic conversion coating and layer-by-layer polymeric coating combinations reduced the initial and long-term corrosion progression of the AZ31 alloy. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the successful application of coatings.

Disruption of wave-associated Rac GTPase-activating protein (Wrp) leads to abnormal adult neural progenitor migration associated with hydrocephalus.

Hydrocephalus is the most common developmental disability and leading cause of brain surgery for children. Current treatments are limited to surgical intervention, as the factors that contribute to the initiation of hydrocephalus are poorly understood. Here, we describe the development of obstructive hydrocephalus in mice that are null for Wrp (Srgap3).

WRP/srGAP3 facilitates the initiation of spine development by an inverse F-BAR domain, and its loss impairs long-term memory.

The WAVE-associated Rac GAP, WRP, is thought to regulate key aspects of synapse development and function and may be linked to mental retardation in humans. WRP contains a newly described inverse F-BAR (IF-BAR) domain of unknown function. Our studies show that this domain senses/facilitates outward protrusions analogous to filopodia and that the molecular basis for this is likely explained by a convex lipid-binding surface on the WRP IF-BAR domain.

Mechanisms of cellular protrusions branch out.

F-BAR domains bind curved membranes and induce membrane invagination. In a recent Cell paper, Guerrier et al. describe an "inverse" F-BAR family member that induces outward curvature and filopodia in migrating neurons.